KENT STATE SHOOTING
-The protest movement had started as a predominantly college student based movement, but things changed on May 4, 1970. A group of students gathered on the campus of Kent State University in Kent, Ohio, to protest the United States’ involvement in the Vietnam War. They were protesting over President Nixon’s decision to order the bombing of Cambodia. But this protest soon took a turn for the worst.Nearly a hundred national guardsmen, who had been called by Ohio’s governor a few days earlier after a fire swept through the universities, marched into the campus. Several students threw rocks and shouted for them to leave the campus, and The National Guard proceeded to use tear gas to brake up the crowd, a failed attempt. Then, out of nowhere, the National Guard opened fire on a group of about two hundred protesters. By the time the shooting ceased, four students had been killed and nine were left wounded. For years, the United States’ involvement in Vietnam had been questioned. But it was not until the Kent State shooting that all Americans were forced to look not only at the war itself but the issues that surrounded it.
KENT STATE SHOOTING
-The protest movement had started as a predominantly college student based movement, but things changed on May 4, 1970. A group of students gathered on the campus of Kent State University in Kent, Ohio, to protest the United States’ involvement in the Vietnam War. They were protesting over President Nixon’s decision to order the bombing of Cambodia. But this protest soon took a turn for the worst. Nearly a hundred national guardsmen, who had been called by Ohio’s governor a few days earlier after a fire swept through the universities, marched into the campus. Several students threw rocks and shouted for them to leave the campus, and The National Guard proceeded to use tear gas to brake up the crowd, a failed attempt. Then, out of nowhere, the National Guard opened fire on a group of about two hundred protesters. By the time the shooting ceased, four students had been killed and nine were left wounded. For years, the United States’ involvement in Vietnam had been questioned. But it was not until the Kent State shooting that all Americans were forced to look not only at the war itself but the issues that surrounded it.